Internet Service News (US ISPs are bad and should feel bad)

[Aksannyi]

I could get better internet if I could afford it. They offer much higher speeds in my area, but at much higher costs. It sucks being one of the plebs on the slow crap. I mean I guess it's better than 56k, but still.

[Cantih]

How long until a BG member with google fiber decides to setup a boarding house for other BG members stranded in parts of North America that have slower speeds than third world countries? I think this needs to happen because I don't see the majority of the US getting access to non shitty internet anytime soon.

If it weren't for the ridiculous cost, I'd say buying out/building a BG apartment complex should be a thing.

[zoobernut]

If it weren't for the ridiculous cost, I'd say buying out/building a BG apartment complex should be a thing.

I think the next bg donation drive needs to make this happen!

[AoE]

You guys say that now until no one can sleep because people are arguing about FFXIV and FFXIV non-stop all day.

[Adajer]

Gigapower will be spreading soon, within next few years.

[enzan]

Is that a hope, or is there some proof of that? I haven't seen any major ISP say anything about FTTH. Will they start doing FTTH like Google Fiber or keep going with copper last mile to homes? I don't really care about having a gigabit connection. I would be fine with 50M down/up. What I don't want is the bullshit cable that is never a static connection, and just tanks during peak hours.

[kuronosan]

Gigapower will be spreading soon, within next few years.

You'll notice that they likely won't deliver full GB speeds. Around here they're already saying results depend on location.

[zoobernut]

In the end it doesn't matter for those of us in really rural areas. They don't want to update our infrastructure. We are fighting to get to current normal speeds so we don't have to use satellite.

[Adajer]

In the end it doesn't matter for those of us in really rural areas. They don't want to update our infrastructure. We are fighting to get to current normal speeds so we don't have to use satellite.

Fiber is cheaper to maintain in the long run. The main reason why rural infrastructures dont get updated is because as long as they meet minimum requirements from Gov't, there is no need is spending the money on upgrading for a small area of profit. Fiber will be up everyone's ass in 10 years.

You'll notice that they likely won't deliver full GB speeds. Around here they're already saying results depend on location.

Depends, AT&T has been doing fiber for a while. Just not Gigapower. Newer tech being used to provide actual 1gbps( or more) is being added. It is coming. The infrastructure still needs to be ran for the most part. New construction areas in major AT&T cities def have it.

[enzan]

I have no faith in AT&T doing anything useful anymore. There is a fiber backbone around a mile from my house, and they have dug up the front yard twice to lay fiber. However, they never connected it to anything. Do they get a tax write off for just putting shit in the ground? They have been putting fiber down for years, and not using it for anything. Stuck with shitty u-verse capped at 6 down .5 up for life.

[zoobernut]

Fiber is cheaper to maintain in the long run. The main reason why rural infrastructures dont get updated is because as long as they meet minimum requirements from Gov't, there is no need is spending the money on upgrading for a small area of profit. Fiber will be up everyone's ass in 10 years.

The problem is that the area I live in doesn't even meet the minimum requirements and the government is suing or has sued ATT and other carriers for breach of contract but the penalty is a drop in the bucket for them so they don't have any plans of updating infrastructure to get us to that minimum.

I hope you are right about fiber being everywhere in 10 years because trying to prop up an entire business with close to 100 employees and a hell of a lot of guests on ~11mb/s is really tough not to mention we are trying to implement VOIP on top of that. Oh and that doesn't even address the fact that the t1 lines go down all the time when it rains because of shorts in the copper lines.

All of the content providers are moving towards streaming and cloud based services but the service providers are not keeping up with that initiative and it really sucks.

[Adajer]

I have no faith in AT&T doing anything useful anymore. There is a fiber backbone around a mile from my house, and they have dug up the front yard twice to lay fiber. However, they never connected it to anything. Do they get a tax write off for just putting shit in the ground? They have been putting fiber down for years, and not using it for anything. Stuck with shitty u-verse capped at 6 down .5 up for life.

Might have been fiber runs for Uverse and not Gigapower, fiber runs for other people in area.

[kuronosan]

Fiber is cheaper to maintain in the long run. The main reason why rural infrastructures dont get updated is because as long as they meet minimum requirements from Gov't, there is no need is spending the money on upgrading for a small area of profit. Fiber will be up everyone's ass in 10 years.




Depends, AT&T has been doing fiber for a while. Just not Gigapower. Newer tech being used to provide actual 1gbps( or more) is being added. It is coming. The infrastructure still needs to be ran for the most part. New construction areas in major AT&T cities def have it.

Yea? Well I bet ATT won't let you upload your own MKVs to your DVR and watch then on your TV.

Google does. And it's glorious.

[DrClout]

Yea? Well I bet ATT won't let you upload your own MKVs to your DVR and watch then on your TV.

Google does. And it's glorious.

Wtf... that sounds like a game changer

[D44kpunk]

there have been apps out for smart TVs that have done this for ages.

or better yet just stream straight from your PC.

"game changer" isn't exactly the word i'd go for, ISPs should be making it more accessible though

[DrClout]

Well as someone whom hasn't owned a television in over 10 years and the only source of cable/satellite has been through converter boxes to HDMI monitors, this is pretty big. I fully agree that ISPs need to get on their game but as NONE outside this one has done it. . . yes, game changer. It's offering a level of service that appeals to a far wider range of customers than ever before and once the big wig companies see it, it'll be only a matter of time before firmware updates roll out allowing this.

[RKenshin]

Setup Plex or XBMC and you can stream any media type or format on a PC to any smart TV, or TV connected to a Chromecast/Roku/PS3/PS4/Xbox One/Xbox 360/etc, or any Android or iOS phone/tablet/etc.

Not that customizing the DVR in that way isn't unique and awesome, but media streaming/sharing has come pretty far past what any ISP is likely to get involved with. It's a cool feature, but not something that doesn't already exist and will likely always be done better by independent (and free) apps/software.

Google is as close as it gets to a kind of an exception to that, in that they know what they're doing when it comes to apps/software/hardware... but I wouldn't use or want an app or method to do that by Verizon/AT&T/Comcast anymore than I'd want an [email protected] address.

[kuronosan]

I looked into it. Google disabled media access for now for "further testing". You can still upload media, but you can't access it through your TV at the moment.

Why they disabled it I don't know, but I signed up as a "new hardware beta tester" so we'll see how that pans out.

[enzan]

I wouldn't use or want an app or method to do that by Verizon/AT&T/Comcast anymore than I'd want an [email protected] address.

Dear god this, that just sounds like a nightmare within a nightmare waiting to happen. Maybe my hate for major ISP companies just runs too deep, but I wouldn't ever want to use an app or something produced by them specifically. Also does anyone actually use ISP provided email addresses at this point? The only thing that ever got sent to my AT&T email was advertisement from them, and account related info.

[Melena]

I use my comcast e-mail, but that's mainly due to the fact I never created a gmail account and i'm too fucking lazy to change my e-mail with my bank, every credit card, and every other site I use.